Gnome

how much is your budget? by the time you add it all up... They get very, very expensive

ive got the original POD. i hear good things about the XT though... Is it worth the upgrade?

asm, large workareas (i.e. 4'x4' or larger) and accuracy are absolutetly NOT mutually exclusive. If the machine is properly designed, with quality parts, factors such as backlash can be minimized. I've been reading a bit about minimizing backlash, and it will be a problem... but I've seen some novel, inexpensive methods to reduce the problem. remember, were talking about routing guitar bodies here, not precision parts for aircraft. id feel guilty if i were to just slap a blank down and have the machine do ALL of the work, eheh. some elbow grease will be needed to produce the final product...

haha, yeah sometimes I think it really is BS. once i get the machine done i'll hopefully have all of my steps documented, then maybe someone on here can make the plunge and build using what i've done as a foundation for futher work. Im actually thinking of building a 2'x2' to start, I cant find decent rails on ebay for really long lengths.

hey asm, thanks for the words of advice... my reasons for a 4x6' router are many. First, I want to be able to do more than just mill guitar bodies. I know several carpenters in the area that would be more than happy to throw some work my way, if I could produce detailed wood pieces. I'd like to get into machining columns, mantle pieces, custom moldings, and signs of all types. Once the machine is built and properly set up, routing guitar bodies or necks will be trivial. At any point in time, ebay has tons of servo/stepper motors, linear bearings, ball screws, etc at decent prices. You just have to check every day, and invest a bit in luck for winning the auction. Remember we are talking about milling wood here, at a low feed rate. Im going to use a Dremel as the router for development... Why not try and build a cnc? I have adequate skills with electronics, due to having a BS degree in electrical engineering. Heck, my day job is software/hardware development. If I really start digging into the software/motor control aspects of the project (which I'm just starting to now), I could probably write a crude program for motor control. Plus, We aren't talking tolerances to a 1000's of an inch. I would argue that it's entirely possible to do. My only problem now is finding the time to do it, with work/school and everything else, but once im done gathering parts i'll start to piece something together and start looking for control boards. It's going to be a learning process, but think of the application once its done? for a couple grand (at most) I'll have the ability to make a ton of cool stuff.

im building a cnc machine now. gimme a couple more months and if you send me the wood, ill do it for free. What is the file type for a CADKEY file?

i've been slowly collecting parts from ebay for 3-axis, 4'x6' cnc router which, when finished, should be able to bang out small production wood, plastic, and possibly light metal routing. I'm aiming for a fine enough resolution to be able to rout intricate inlay designs, as well as machining any kind of neck/body design. (personally i like handmade guitars, but id like to make the machine capable to do anything) i figure i'm about $1000 in parts into it, and i need about another $500 (minus software) to get the basic mechanical problems solved. Would it be worth it to chronicle my work on here? I'll start posting pics if anyone is interested, and when/if i find my digital camera. anyone done anything similar?

I figured it would be a decent idea to take a woodworking class before embarking on guitar building. I signed up for a "Fundamentals of Fine Woodworking" class at the aforementioned school just to get some experience with working with wood: tools, wood types, techniques, etc. Probably won't be 100% applicable, but it's a start. Besides, I'm interested in furniture making too. Any experience with the North Bennett St school? Anyone else take a class similar to this? thanks, scott p.s. I'm not entirely sure where I should have posted this question, guess the admins could move this if it's in the wrong place.

I like the old mnemonic... "Oscar Had A Hold On Arthur" for sin, cos, and tan

hey daveg, thanks for that link. thats one of the most comprehensive wood supply sites i've seen so far.

I havent been able to find a comprehensive page which has links to various wood distributors. Doe you know if one exists? good luck with your project. Im getting a list of needed tools together right now. Im going to start stocking up on wood soon.

Can one take a trek into the woods and find nice woods? I have a rather large wooded reserve near my house, and perhaps there are some old Maple trees that have recently fallen, or have been hit by lightning, etc. I'm not against paying money to a local or online wood shop, but why not take advantage of local resources if I'm not destroying any trees? If a fallen tree is just going to sit there and rot, I might as well break out the chainsaw.Which leads me to the question: Are the nice flamed and quilted pieces that are seen online, generally from older growth trees, meaning, I guess, are these nice samples usually from trees that are gigantic in diameter? Also, I'm finding pretty nice flamed and quilted maple pieces online for reasonable prices. I will probably go with lesser grade flamed pieces for my first attempt at carving and shaping a top. Sorry for my ignorance, Im an absolute beginner and I'm trying to get educated on wood types and varieties.

Hi everyone, I've been searching for some info guitar building for some time now. Thankfully, I finally stumbled upon this place. I've been wanting to build my own handmade electric guitar(s) now for a couple years, but was hesitant because there wasn't anywhere to turn when questions arose. I think the existence of this message board will finally give me the boot in the behind to start building some instruments. I'm trying to find some nice wood right now. Im pretty impressed by the work of Drak, rhoads56, and a bunch of others. I'm not much of a woodworker, but it has been an interest of mine for a long time, I just never had the money to invest in tools. Also, I used to be a pretty serious about airbrushing years ago, so i have all the gear buried somewhere around here for custom paint jobs.. anyhow, i guess you guys can expect a myriad of annoying, stupid questions very soon.